WASHINGTON — The number of Americans traveling away from home for Thanksgiving will be up only slightly this year from 2008, according to a report from AAA auto club.
The group, which surveyed 1,350 households, said there will be about 33.2 million people traveling by car this year — a 2.1 percent increase from last year. But there will be a 6.7 percent decrease in the number of air travelers, totaling 2.3 million this year, continuing a decade-long decline of Thanksgiving air travel.
In the report released Wednesday, AAA officials said the expected increase reflects improved consumer confidence from a year ago, when Thanksgiving travel dropped 25 percent amid the country’s economic problems.
Americans might feel more financially secure, the report says.
“The economy is still very clearly weighing heavily on the minds of Thanksgiving travelers this year, and that’s evidenced by the very small increase that we expect to see in total travel,” said Geoff Sundstrom, a spokesman for AAA’s national office in Heathrow, Fla.
The Air Transport Association has predicted that holiday passenger traffic will drop 4 percent from last year, despite airlines’ heavy discounting. Planes are likely to be full over Thanksgiving, the trade group said.
Travelers began checking in for holiday flights Saturday at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C.
College student Lucy Crowley, 22, said she booked her flight to leave several days before the holiday.
“I made travel plans around avoiding that rush,” she said.
Crowley said two of her roommates from California will join her family in Boston, because tickets are cheaper there than going home.
